1991 Academy Awards® Winners and History The Prince of Tides (1991) Actor: ANTHONY HOPKINS in "The Silence of the Lambs" , Warren Beatty in "Bugsy", Robert De Niro in "Cape Fear", Nick Nolte in "The Prince of Tides", Robin Williams in "The Fisher King" Actress: JODIE FOSTER in "The Silence of the Lambs" , Geena Davis in "Thelma & Louise", Laura Dern in "Rambling Rose", Bette Midler in "For the Boys", Susan Sarandon in "Thelma & Louise" Supporting Actor: JACK PALANCE in "City Slickers", Tommy Lee Jones in "JFK", Harvey Keitel in "Bugsy", Ben Kingsley in "Bugsy", Michael Lerner in "Barton Fink" Supporting Actress: MERCEDES RUEHL in "The Fisher King", Diane Ladd in "Rambling Rose", Juliette Lewis in "Cape Fear", Kate Nelligan in "The Prince of Tides", Jessica Tandy in "Fried Green Tomatoes" Director: JONATHAN DEMME for "The Silence of

 the Lambs" , Barry Levinson for "Bugsy", Ridley Scott for "Thelma & Louise", John Singleton for "Boyz N the Hood", Oliver Stone for "JFK" The five films nominated for Best Picture for 1991 were a very distinctive mix of different types of films: a musical animation, a horror/thriller, a gangster bio, a political conspiracy thriller, and a romantic melodrama.

The big winner was director Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (with seven nominations and five wins). Its surprise win came for many reasons: it was a 'horror' film - the first of its genre to be named Best Picture it was the first Best Picture nominee to have been commercially-available on videotape before its win it was released in late January of 1991, many months before most Best Picture nominees were released (to keep them fresh in Academy voters' minds) and most importantly, it was the third film to win the top five awards (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writer/Screenplay - Ted Tally) since two other films had accomplished the same feat: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and It Happened One Night (1934) - it was the last Best Picture winner, to date, to win both Best Actor and Best Actress The top-notch film, a shocking psychological horror picture about a cannibalistic killer and his strange relationship with a newbie FBI agent, was based on Thomas Harris's 1988 best-selling novel of the same name.

It was a sequel to an earlier film Manhunter (1986) (aka Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter), also based on a Thomas Harris novel titled Red Dragon published in 1981. The two nominations without wins were for Best Sound and Best Film Editing. Jonathan Demme (with his first directorial nomination) won the Best Director award for The Silence of the Lambs , a film with uncharacteristic subject matter that was not usually the recipient of so many Oscar awards. The other four Best Picture nominees that spread the nominations fairly evenly were: Walt Disney's feature-length animated musical cartoon Beauty and the Beast (with six nominations and two wins - Best Song "Beauty and the Beast" and Best Original Score) - it was the first hand-drawn animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture.

[It would be another ten years before a special Oscar category for animated films would be created - Best Animated Feature Film.] Three of the film's nominations were for Best Song - its other two nominated songs were "Be Our Guest" and "Belle." It was the first film to have three nominated songs in one year, a feat duplicated by The Lion King (1994) director Barry Levinson's Vegas gangster movie Bugsy (with ten nominations and two wins - Best Art/Set Direction and Best Costume Design) director Oliver Stone's controversial three-hour long examination of President Kennedy's assassination and conspiracy theory in JFK (with eight nominations and two wins - Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing); Stone was nominated for three Oscars - producing, directing, and writing star/co-producer/director Barbra Streisand's second directorial effort The Prince of Tides (with seven nominations and no wins), a melodramatic adaptation of Pat Conroy's novel about a psychiatrist's curing of the traumas of a patient's family Two of the directors of Best Picture nominees were not nominated for Best Director: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise for Beauty and the Beast, and Barbra Streisand for The Prince of Tides.

[Streisand was the third female director who failed to receive a nomination for a Best Picture-nominated film. The other two were Randa Haines for Children of a Lesser God (1986), and Penny Marshall for Awakenings (1990). Part of the controversy over the nominations for director was because Streisand had been overlooked one other time as director - for Yentl (1983).] Their two directors' places were taken by Ridley Scott (with his first directorial nomination) for his stridently feminist buddy/road film Thelma & Louise (with six nominations and one win - Callie Khouri's Best Original Screenplay), and 24 year-old black director/writer John Singleton (with his directorial debut) for his tragic film about South Central Los Angeles gang violence in the ghetto drama Boyz N the Hood (with two nominations and no wins). [Singleton became the youngest nominee for Best Director in Academy history, and the first African-American to be nominated as Best Director.

He was also the third non-white director ever nominated - the first was Hiroshi Teshigahara for Woman in the Dunes (1965), and the second was Akira Kurosawa for Ran (1985). Singleton was also cited with a nomination for Best Original Screenplay - but surprisingly, no Best Picture nod for Boyz N the Hood. Interestingly, Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett played a divorced couple in this film, and would become Oscar nominees for What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) two years later as the real-life battling couple Ike and Tina Turner.] The Best Actor winner was Anthony Hopkins (with his first nomination and first Oscar) for his chilling portrayal as cannibalistic, menacing, psychopathic serial psychiatrist/killer Dr. Hannibal "Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs . Hopkins' performance - supposedly comprised of about 16 minutes of screen time, was purported to be one of the shortest Best Actor performance ever, up to this time. David Niven also had an extremely short role in Separate Tables (1958).

(Hopkins was on-screen less than the Best Supporting Actor winner, Jack Palance, for City Slickers.) The competing Best Actor nominees were: Warren Beatty (with his fourth unsuccessful acting nomination) as womanizing, glamorous East Coast Jewish gangster and 40s Las Vegas dreamer/developer Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel in Bugsy Robert De Niro (with his sixth nomination, and his second consecutive nomination in the 90s) as vengeful, demented ex-convict Max Cady in director Martin Scorsese's remake of the earlier 1962 thriller Cape Fear (with two nominations and no wins) Nick Nolte (with his first nomination) as Streisand's emotionally crippled patient Tom Wingo in The Prince of Tides Robin Williams (with his third nomination) as Parry - a New York City street person in search of the mystical Holy Grail in director Terry Gilliam's fantasy/comedy The Fisher King (with five nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actress) The Best Actress Oscar was presented to Jodie Foster (with her third nomination and second Oscar) for her performance as strong-willed, brainy, yet vulnerable FBI agent trainee Clarice Starling searching

 for a brutal serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs .

[She had previously won a Best Actress Oscar for The Accused (1988), three years earlier.] Two other Best Actress nominees were the co-stars in Thelma & Louise, two gutsy, pistol-wielding female outlaws who raise hell and joyride until they have nowhere left to escape from surrounding FBI agents: Geena Davis (with her second nomination) as bored housewife Thelma Susan Sarandon (with her second nomination) as Louise Sawyer The remaining two Best Actress nominees were: Bette Midler (with her second nomination) as USO entertainer Dixie Leonard, wife of showbiz partner James Caan in director Mark Rydell's musical For the Boys Laura Dern (with her first nomination) as oversexed, uninhibited 19 year-old Rose in director Martha Coolidge's tale of sexual repression and coming-of-age in a film adaptation of Calder Willingham's semi-autobiographic book Rambling Rose (with two nominations and no wins). [Laura Dern's nomination was in the same year as her own mother's (Diane Ladd's) supporting nomination for the same film.

They were the first and only real-life mother-daughter pair to receive Oscar nominations in the same year and for the same film.] The Best Supporting Actor Oscar was a surprise win for seventy-two year-old Jack Palance (with his third nomination and first Oscar - it was thirty-nine years since his last nomination for Sudden Fear (1952)), for his role as trail boss Curly in director Ron Underwood's adventure/comedy City Slickers (the film's sole nomination and win). This was the award for which Palance performed one-arm pushups. [Palance tied the existing record of thirty-nine years between nominations and victory with Helen Hayes - her span of films existed between The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931-2) and Airport (1970).

The record holder of the longest span between acting nominations was Henry Fonda, with forty-one years between The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and On Golden Pond (1981).] Two competing Best Supporting Actor nominees were co-stars in Bugsy: Ben Kingsley (with his second nomination) as Bugsy's long-time mobster mentor Meyer Lansky Harvey Keitel (with his first nomination) as Bugsy's foul-mouthed gangster associate Mickey Cohen [Keitel has repeatedly been overlooked by the Academy, although he has consistently given original and strong Oscar-worthy performances, including these roles: Charlie Cappa in Mean Streets (1973), "Sport" Matthew in Taxi Driver (1976) , Judas Iscariot in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Jake Berman in The Two Jakes (1990), Hal Slocumb in Thelma & Louise (1991), Mr.

Larry White in Reservoir Dogs (1992), George Baines in The Piano (1993), Winston Wolf in Pulp Fiction (1994) , and more!] The remaining two Best Supporting Actor nominees were: Tommy Lee Jones (with his first nomination) as New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw, accused of complicity in Kennedy's murder in JFK Michael Lerner (with his first nomination) as Louis B. Mayer-like studio boss Jack Lipnick in the quirky Barton Fink (with three nominations and no wins) from the writer/director team of Joel and Ethan Coen Mercedes Ruehl (with her first nomination) won the Best Supporting Actress award for her performance as video store owner Anne Napolitano and girlfriend of burned-out radio talk-show host (Jeff Bridges) in The Fisher King - it was the film's sole Oscar win.

The remaining Best Supporting Actress nominees were: Diane Ladd (Laura Dern's co-star and real-life mother) (with her third unsuccessful nomination) as genteel Southern matron Mother Hillyer in Rambling Rose 17 year old Juliette Lewis (with her first nomination) as young rebellious teenager Danielle Bowden who nearly succumbs to Robert DeNiro's psychotic assaults in Cape Fear Kate Nelligan (with her first nomination) as co-star Nick Nolte's mother Lila Wingo Newbury in The Prince of Tides Jessica Tandy (with her second and last nomination) as eccentric 80 year-old nursing home resident and storyteller Ninny Threadgoode in director Jon Avnet's adaptation of Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes (at the Whistle Stop Cafe) (with two nominations and no wins) It should be noted that Terminator 2: Judgment Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger won four technical Oscars (out of its six nominations): Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Ray Harryhausen, the special-effects genius of notable films during the 50s-80s, including It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years, BC (1966), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), and Clash of the Titans (1981) -- but who never received even a single Oscar nomination -- was awarded the Gordon E. Sawyer honorary Academy Award this year. Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise should have been nominated for Best Picture. Coming before Jane Campion's The Piano (1993) was the New Zealand director's second feature film in this year - the un-nominated, autobiographical An Angel at My Table with Kerry Fox as novelist/poet Janet Frame.

Director/writer/actor Albert Brooks' existential fantasy comedy about heaven, Defending Your Life lacked nominations, and recognition for Brooks as recently-deceased Daniel Miller on trial in the afterlife, for Meryl Streep as his love interest Julia, for Rip Torn as Daniel's reassuring defense attorney Bob Diamond, and for Lee Grant as prosecutor Lena Foster. As mentioned earlier, there was no Best Picture nod for John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood, and Laurence Fishburne was denied a nomination for his role as strict, tough-love South LA father Jason "Furious" Styles. There were also many acting performances that deserved some sort of recognition by the Academy: Wesley Snipes as the targeted, wealthy Harlem ganglord Nino Brown in director Mario Van Peebles' violent New Jack City also Wesley Snipes as married, slick black architect Flipper Purify, engaged in an inter-racial love affair with Italian-American secretary Angela (Annabella Sciorra) in writer/director Spike Lee's Jungle Fever Samuel L.

Jackson as Flipper's violent, crack-addicted brother Gator Purify in the inner-city melodrama Jungle Fever Lili Taylor as aspiring but plain San Francisco folk-singer and poet named Rose (opposite River Phoenix as a young GI) in the heartbreaking Dogfight River Phoenix as Seattle narcoleptic hustler Mike Waters in Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho Reese Witherspoon (in her film debut) as a 14-year old with a crush on an older boy in The Man in the Moon Steve Martin (the film's screenwriter) as wacky TV weatherman Harris K. Telemacher and Sarah Jessica Parker as liberated Valley Girl SanDeE* in Mick Jackson's L.A. Story (with no nominations) Annette Bening as sassy, slinky, and leggy B-movie starlet Virginia "Flamingo" Hill, Bugsy's hard-boiled gangster moll and namesake for his visionary casino/resort in the Nevada desert in Bugsy Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld's The Addams Family Harvey Keitel as sympathetic police officer Hal Slocumb in Thelma & Louise Gary Oldman as presumed assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Donald Sutherland as Mr.

X, and Joe Pesci as conspirator David Ferrie in Oliver Stone's JFK (only Tommy Lee Jones was recognized for his acting performance, among the film's eight nominations) Macaulay Culkin as friendly neighbor Thomas J.

Sennett to Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) in Howard Zieff's My Girl Mary Stuart Masterson as Alabama cafe operator Idgie Threadgoode - one character in the life stories of Jessica Tandy's Ninny in Fried Green Tomatoes Mimi Rogers as a spiritually-converted Los Angeles telephone operator in writer/director Michael Tolkin's The Rapture (with no nominations) Lili Taylor as shy waitress and aspiring folk singer Rose - chosen as River Phoenix's 'ugly date' in Nancy Savoca's Dogfight Alison Steadman as Wendy - the nurturing mother of a lower middle-class London family in British filmmaker Mike Leigh's second film Life is Sweet Timothy Dalton as screen star and Nazi spy Neville Sinclair in the comic-book spy film The Rocketeer Val Kilmer as Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's biopic of the 60's rock group The Doors (with no nominations) Beauty and the Beast - Awards - IMDb Howard Ashman (lyrics) For the song "Beauty and the Beast". Howard Ashman's nomination and award were posthumous. His ... More For the song "Beauty and the Beast". Howard Ashman's nomination and award were posthumous.

His partner Bill Lauch accepted the award on his behalf. Best Music, Original Score Film History Milestones - 1991 Event and Significance 1991 Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) was the first fully animated feature film to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. [Note: Mary Poppins (1964) was only partially animated.] 1991 23 year-old USC film graduate John Singleton received an Oscar nomination as Best Director (the first time in this category for an African-American) for his debut film, the coming-of-age drama Boyz 'N the Hood (1991). He was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It was culturally significant as the first mainstream movie to deal with gang violence in America's urban ghettos. Its story was about two South Central LA boys, Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) from divergent families who attempted to survive while surrounded by violence in the simmering inner city. The film's opening was overshadowed by violence in twelve states, leaving three dead and many wounded. A number of theaters pulled the film.

John Singleton expressed sympathy for victims and appealed to the perpetrators for an end to the violence. Singleton disputed suggestions that the film had been marketed as a "gang" picture and echoed distributor Columbia Picture's earlier statement that the advertising campaign was "based in reality." 1991 Ridley Scott's radical wide-screen film Thelma and Louise (1991) with a debut script by Callie Khouri (that won a Best Screenplay Oscar) was the first feminist-buddy/road film with two raging female heroines. Although controversial and defiant (like its counterpart Easy Rider (1969) was in its day), it offered splendid character roles to two actresses Susan Sarandon (as fed-up, overworked waitress Louise) and Geena Davis (as housewife Thelma) portraying outlaw women in flight across the American Southwest from abusiveness in marriage, rape and the law.

[Incidentally, the film also launched Brad Pitt as a new star.] 1991 Jonathan Demme's Best Picture and Director win for the horror film The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was unexpected - it was the third film to win the top five awards since two other films had accomplished the same feat: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and It Happened One Night (1934) . It was a five-time major Academy-Award winner, sweeping Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster, her second Oscar in four years), Best Director (Jonathan Demme), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally). The film contained a classic representation of evil personified - the notorious, cobra-like, intelligent psychiatrist turned psychopathic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (portrayed masterfully by British actor Anthony Hopkins), playing opposite dedicated, fledgling, vulnerable and rising female FBI agent-trainee/investigator Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster).

[Prestigious British stage, TV and film actor Hopkins had an impressive collection of movies to his credit with both minor and major parts over many years (The Lion in Winter (1968), A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), The Bounty (1984), and 84 Charing Cross Road (1987)).] Foster's strong, yet restrained, vulnerable female lead role in the much talked-about film was intensified by public knowledge of her real-life associations as a victim with assassin John Hinckley and her role as child-prostitute Iris opposite Robert De Niro's portrayal of a crazed killer in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) . 1991 Although Orion Pictures had done well with Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves (1990) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - both Best Picture winners, its shaky financial situation (after years of money-losing pictures) caused it to file for bankruptcy late in 1991, to protect itself from creditors in federal court.

1991 Pixar and Disney agreed to co-produce the first fully computer-generated feature film, Toy Story (1995), released four years later. 1991 In 1991, SEGA released "Fantasia" for their Mega Drive/Genesis videogame platform - it was developed by Infogrames. The single-player game marked a 51 year long wait - the longest time period between a movie (Disney's classic animation Fantasia (1940) , in particular, the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment) and its movie-licensed videogame release. It turned out to be a massive flop. 1991 One of the first public uses of amateur video footage (subsequently aired by news agencies, and becoming a media sensation) was the capture of the March 3, 1991 prolonged beating of Rodney King, an African-American motorist, by several white LAPD officers who hit, stomped, and kicked him after he'd led them on a high-speed chase.

In late April of 1992 after the four LAPD officers were acquitted of assault charges, race riots erupted in major US cities, and LA experienced three days of intense looting, deaths, injuries, fires, and arrests. 1991 The first truly believable, naturally-moving computer-generated character was the morphing, liquid molten metal, T-1000 cyborg in James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) . It was the first instance of a computer generated main character. Over 300 special effects shots made up 16 minutes of the film's running time, including the use of computer "morphing" to physically transform its characters. 1991 Writer/director James Cameron's sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) was the most expensive movie up to its time. It was the first film in history to cost $100 million to produce. The exorbitant cost was mostly due to its advanced visual effects. (From its six Oscar nominations, the film won four awards, including Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects.) The film's trailer alone cost $150,000.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's salary was reported to be between $12 and $15 million. Evidentally, it paid off, as the film was the top-grossing (domestic) film of 1991, at $204.8 million. (The # 2 and # 3 highest-grossing domestic films falling way behind were Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) at $165.5 million, and Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast (1991) at $145.9 million.) 1991 The cable-TV channel Comedy Central (originally named CTV: The Comedy Network) was launched on April 1, 1991, April Fool's Day. 1991 Oliver Stone's controversial three-hour long JFK (1991) opened, starring Kevin Costner (as former New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison), Tommy Lee Jones (as ultra-right-wing fanatic Clay Shaw), Gary Oldman (as suspected assassin Oswald), and Donald Sutherland (as the mysterious X).

Stone defended his film, stating that the 1963 killing involved a conspiracy and cover-up, rather than a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, specified by the Warren Commission report. The film's release provoked demands that all records related to the assassination of JFK be opened to the public. Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which established the Assassination Records Review Board, or ARRB, to carry out release of records related to the assassination. As a result, about five million pages of documents were released and available for review at the National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland. But the review board agreed to withhold about 1,100 records -- each record comprised 1-20 pages -- that were considered to contain information about confidential sources or methods or had national security implications. 1991 First time writer/director Julie Dash's historical epic drama Daughters of the Dust (1991) was the first independent film produced, written and directed by an African-American woman to be distributed in the US to a wide and general audience. She has been honored as the first African American woman to direct a movie that won general theatrical release.

The film was added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress in 2004 - the first film made by an African American woman to be placed inside the registry. 1991 Stanley Kubrick's big-budget studio film Spartacus (1960) was reissued in a 70mm version. It had been severely criticized for its infamous 5-minute bathing-seduction scene (originally cut from the film) between bisexual, prurient Roman patrician General Marcus Crassus (Laurence Olivier) in a sunken tub (partially veiled by see-through netting) and his submissive 26 year-old Sicilian "body servant" Antoninus (Tony Curtis). They engaged in a notorious, double-entendre conversation about bi-sexual experimentation and sexual preferences with their veiled culinary talk about the morality of eating oysters and/or snails, and Crassus' affinity for sexual variety (Crassus: "It is all a matter of taste...my taste includes both snails and oysters") - the scene was restored to the theatrical release version in 1991. Olivier's voice on the soundtrack was dubbed by Anthony Hopkins.

1991 Paul Reubens (aka PeeWee Herman), the star of many popular films (i.e., PeeWee's Big Adventure (1985)) and his own TV show (the mid-80s Pee-wee's Playhouse), was arrested in Florida for indecent exposure while watching an X-rated film in a theatre. The arrest of the kids' show star was a devastating blow to his reputation and career, and marked the end of his PeeWee character. 1991 Screenwriter and director Frank Capra, noted for his "Capra-corn" films heralding the common man, died at the age of 94. He had won three Best Director Academy Awards during his career: It Happened One Night (1934) , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) , and You Can't Take It With You (1938). Two of his films won Best Picture: It Happened One Night (1934) and You Can't Take It With You (1938). Other well-known films included Lost Horizon (1937) , Mr.

Smith Goes to Washington (1939) , Meet John Doe (1941) , Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) , and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) . 1991 British director David Lean died at the age of 83. He was best known for his widescreen epic films, including The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) , Lawrence of Arabia (1962) , Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). Other well-known films included In Which We Serve (1942), Brief Encounter (1946) , Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1948), and Hobson's Choice (1954). He had received seven Best Director Oscar nominations during his career, winning twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) .

Walt Disney Animation Studios THE HISTORY OF DISNEY ANIMATION In 1937, the Walt Disney Studios released its first fully animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and pioneered a new form of family entertainment. More than seven decades later, Walt Disney Animation Studios continues to honor its heritage through animated films that combine beautiful artistry, masterful storytelling and ground-breaking technology. CLICK TO ENTER San Fransokyo, the fictional metropolis in which the film is set, is actually based on a caricature of property data collected from maps obtained from San Francisco's Assessor-Recorder's office. Three times as complex as any setting from previous Disney animated films, San Fransokyo features 83,000 buildings, 216,000 street lights, and hundreds of thousands of residents. The setting is so large, in fact, that the environments from all three of Disney's previous animated films (Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen) can fit into the city of San Fransokyo. BH6 clocked 199,000,000 render hours.

By comparison, Tangled clocked 11,500,000 render hours, Wreck-It Ralph clocked 21,900,000 render hours, and Frozen clocked 62,800,000 render hours. Director Patrick Osborne had been shooting one-second videos of his meals for a couple months when he noticed patterns forming — his life reflected in the food he ate. "I wanted to tell a story through the different meals a person eats," says Osborne. "I was interested in how the food alone could reveal that someone's life situation has changed. There's something cool about that." In order to capture the look of production designer Jeff Turley's concept art, the filmmakers developed new techniques, including a way to break up the edges of shapes on screen. "Jeff used certain paper textures throughout his artwork that made the edges feel less harsh," says director Patrick Osborne.

"It looks like ripped paper—but it's challenging to do it in 3D animation because the texture doesn't automatically move with the shape." Filmmakers invited a real-life reindeer into the Walt Disney Animation Studios, observing the animal's physical makeup and mannerisms, which were later caricatured in the making of Kristoff's reindeer buddy Sven. The reindeer showcased an unexpected technique for taking care of an itch on his ear: he used his back legs—like a dog might do. Sven later adopted the technique. The character of Kristoff was largely influenced by the Sami people, who are indigenous to parts of northern Norway. The Sami are known for herding reindeer, which may explain why Kristoff's best buddy is a reindeer named Sven. Filmmakers visited a Sami-owned reindeer husbandry business in Roros, Norway. "I loved the idea of making a Mickey film that felt like a newly discovered 1928 short," says director Lauren MacMullan. "I decided not to have Mickey talk much, because he didn't in those early shorts. We used Walt's voice initially as scratch, but it sounded so perfect. It put us right in that era.

Our assistant editor Danya Joseph started to hunt within existing Walt recordings for lines that would fit our story needs, and we were able to tailor our dialogue to reflect what we had." To create new model sheets for each of the characters, 2D animator Eric Goldberg studied the early Mickey films and pulled frame grabs to find the poses he liked best. For each model sheet he created, he would give the character what he called "a uniform Ub Iwerks pass," and make sure that they looked authentic to the 1928 period. As the CG rigs and models began to take shape, Goldberg played a key supervisory role, doing draw-overs to help achieve the look that director Lauren MacMullan wanted. In order to visually identify the three unique video game worlds that the movie primarily takes place in, Art Directors Mike Gabriel and Ian Gooding created a unique shape language for Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush. Fix-It Felix Jr. was comprised of squares, Hero's Duty was constructed with triangles, and Sugar Rush was inspired by circular shapes. The filmmaking team used different animation techniques for characters within Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush as an addition to distinguish between the different game worlds.

The Fix-It Felix Jr. characters had an 8-bit, staccato influence, the Hero's Duty characters were intended to have hyper-realistic movements, and the Sugar Rush characters had an exaggerated, cartoon-like feel to how they moved. The film features over 180 unique characters that were created for the film. In comparison, Tangled had 64. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Paperman won the Oscar in 2013 for "Best Animated Short Film." This is the first win in this category for the studio since the 1969 short "It's Tough to Be a Bird." Looking back at other digital techniques that were created to combine 2D and CG animation like Tarzan's "Deep Canvas," Software Engineer Brian Whited designed a new program called "Meander" which allowed the filmmakers to create the film's unique hand-drawn look in a computer-generated environment. Won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Tangled marks Walt Disney Animation Studios' 50th full-length animated feature. A CG animated feature, which raised the bar for human animation in the CG world.

Special software had to be created to simulate movement for the hair since no one had ever animated that much hair before. Her 70 feet of golden hair contained more than 100,000 individual strands. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “I See the Light.” Bolt's original title was ‘American Dog.’ Bolt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Bolt was Disney’s first animated feature to be conceived and designed for 3D. The Princess and the Frog was nominated for 3 Academy Awards for Best Original Song for “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans,” and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. The Princess and the Frog was based on an original story by Ron Clements and John Musker. Chicken Little was Disney's first complete CG-animated feature film. Chicken Little was the first to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Meet the Robinsons is based on the book by William Joyce. Brother Bear's working title was ‘Bears.’ Brother Bear was created at the Disney Feature Animation Studio in Florida at Walt Disney World.

An early version of Home on the Range was titled ‘Sweating Bullets.’ Home on the Range's voice talent Ann Richards was formerly the Governor of Texas. This was the first animated feature where the backgrounds were all painted by computer. The "Deep Canvas" technology that was developed for Tarzan was used to create a new process called "Virtual Sets" that allowed the production team to create 360-degree sets for animated environments. This enabled them to use live-action cinematography techniques in an animated world. Primarily produced at Disney’s Feature Animation studio in Walt Disney World. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Emperor's New Groove was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, “My Funny Friend and Me.” The original title for Emperor's New Groove was ‘Kingdom of the Sun.’ Atlantis: The Lost Empire directors based the design on the style of cult comic book artist Mike Mignola who served as an artistic consultant. Atlantis: The Lost Empire Atlantean's had an original readable, speakable language that was created by linguistics expert Marc Okrand. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine provided the soundtrack for Fantasia 2000.

Fantasia 2000 was a longtime pet project of Roy E. Disney, receiving his personal supervision. Dinosaur composited CG-animated dinosaurs against live-action backgrounds for its unique look. The production team developed a 3D painting/rendering technique dubed “Deep Canvas” to produce 3D backgrounds. The software was able to track brushstrokes applied in 3D space and allowed the computer-generated backgrounds to retain a traditional animation aesthetic. Animator Glen Keane designed the character of Tarzan, drawing inspiration for Tarzan’s persona from his teenage son, Max, who loved performing fearless skateboarding stunts and watching extreme sports, such as snowboarding. Thus, Tarzan seemed to ‘surf’ through the trees. Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture. This film won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, (“You’ll Be in My Heart”.) Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. In order to create the 1,800+ Hun soldiers, the production team developed a new computer software tool called Attila which allowed them to have each of the Huns move independently of one another without having to meticulously animate each of them.

The is the first film to be primarily produced at the Disney Feature Animation Studio at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida The film features the first use in animation of the process of morphing, wherein an object is made to smoothly transform into another, utilizing computer technology. A field trip to Greece and Turkey in the summer of 1994 gave artists a firsthand look at landscapes, ancient sides, and an opportunity to hear expert accounts of classic Greek mythology. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Go the Distance” written by composer, Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel. At various stages of the production, the creative team for Pocahontas consulted with Native American scholars and storytellers to incorporate authentic aspects of the Powhatan culture into the film. The look and style of Pocahontas was inspired by the filmmakers’ numerous visits to Jamestown, Virginia, as well as by extensive research into the Colonial period.

Pocahontas won two Academy Award for Beset Original Score and Best Original Song for “Color of the Wind.” In Pocahontas, the use of strong vertical and horizontal imagery in the design springs from the tall, vertical shapes of the Virginia pine forests and the vast horizontal landscapes. The Huntchback of Notre Dame was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is from the Victor Hugo epic novel, first published in 1831. Won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” Also nominated for two additional Academy Awards for Best Original Song for both “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata.” The main locations for the film, including Pride Rock and the Gorge, are modeled after Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya. The project originated a number of years earlier under the title, ‘King of the Jungle.’ Actual live lions were brought to the studio, for the animators to study. Computer-generated imagery enabled the filmmakers to create the amazing magic carpet ride through the Cave of Wonders, the intricately patterned flying carpet, and the stunning tiger head cave.

Won two Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “A Whole New World.” Also nominated for 3 Academy Awards for Best Effects, Best Original Song for “Friend Like Me,” and Best Sound. Eric Goldberg, the Genie’s supervising animator, was heavily influenced by the curved, fluid caricature style of artist Al Hirschfeld. The art directors were inspired by Persian miniatures and Arabian calligraphy. Art Directors traveled to the Loire valley in France, and studied great French romantic painters, Fragonard and Bouchard for inspiration. The ‘Be Our Guest’ sequence used Computer-generated imagery, along with the creation of a striking three-dimensional ballroom background, allowing dramatic camera moves on the animated characters as they danced. The film won two Academy Awards: one for Best Original Song (“Beauty and the Beast”) and the other for Best Original Score. This was the first animated feature to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Portions of the film were animated at Disney-MGM Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The first Disney animated classic essentially to be a sequel. Five key members of the creative team traveled to the Australian outback to observe for themselves its unique beauty.

The used photos from Ayers Rock, Katherine Gorge, and Kakadu National Park. This was the first animated feature completely produced with CAPS (computer animation production system) which allowed the film to be created entirely using computers. First feature done all in CAPS. Also since Jim Jordan, who had voiced the albatross Orville in the original ‘The Rescuers,’ had passed away it was Roy E. Disney who suggested the character of Wilbur, Orville’s brother, as a replacement. The names of course, were a play on the Wright Brothers. First Disney animated feature based on a classic fairy tale in three decades (since Sleeping Beauty). This film turned to the famous story by Hans Christian Andersen. This was the last Disney feature film to utilize hand-painted cel animation. It was also the first to use the newly-developed CAPS process (computer animation production system) to generate artwork for a few sequences. This was essentially a digital ink and paint system that allowed artists to create and catalogue their work using computers. In 1992, the Disney/Pixar team that developed CAPS won an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Scientific and Engineering Award.

Won an Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Under the Sea.” Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Kiss the Girl.” Disney artists had considered an animated film of ‘The Little Mermaid’ in the late 1930s and illustrator Kay Nielsen prepared a number of striking story sketches in pastels and watercolors. Kay Nielsen received a ‘Visual Development’ credit on the 1989 film. The Great Mouse Detective animation took just over one year to complete. This remarkably short production span was possible due to new efficiencies in the production process (such as video tests and computer assisted layouts and graphics), and an increased emphasis on story development prior to the start of production. The climatic scene in The Great Mouse Detective where Basil faces Ratigan in a final confrontation inside the turning and thrashing gear works of Big Ben. The 54 moving gears winches, ratchets, beams and pulleys were literally drawn by the computer. The Great Mouse Detective is based on Eve Titus’s book, Basil of Baker Street.

The Great Mouse Detective capitalized on the CGI (computer-generated imagery) techniques used for producing The Black Cauldron as layouts were done on computers and the climactic sequence within the interior of Big Ben relies heavily on computer-generated animation. Oliver & Company designers went to New York and photographed street scenes from a dog’s perspective -18 inches off the ground- getting stares from passerby but providing excellent reference material for the lay out artist. Oliver & Company is Howard Ashman’s first Disney Feature film. Oliver & Company was the first film to have its own department set up expressly for the purpose of generating computer animation. The Fox and the Hound marked the premier effort of a new generation of Disney animators who would, in a few years create ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ The Fox and the Hound featured the song, ‘Best of Friends,’ by Richard O. Johnston, son of animator Ollie Johnston. Fox and the Hound was based on a story by Daniel P. Mannix. The Black Cauldron won an Academy Award for the Development of the Animation Photo Transfer Process.

The Black Cauldron was the first film to use the new technological breakthrough - APT (Animation Photo Transfer) process. This was the first major change in the Studio’s method of transferring the artist’s drawings to a cel since photocopying. The Black Cauldron was 12 years in the making. The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature to utilize CGI (computer-generated imagery) for creating such elements as the cauldron, bubbles, and a boat in the film. Based on the original books by A.A Milne. The film’s animators produced approximately 330,000 drawings, 14 sequences with 1,039 separate scenes and 750 backgrounds. The film was based on two books by Margery Sharp, The Rescuers and Miss Bianca. Nominated for an Oscar.

Worldwide Exclusive: 'Beauty and the Beast' Trailer Premieres on 'GMA' - ABC News ABC News 'Beauty and the Beast' Trailer Premieres on 'GMA': See Emma Watson as Belle By ABC NEWS May 23, 2016, 8:39 AM ET 0 Shares WATCH Worldwide Exclusive: 'Beauty and the Beast' Trailer Premieres on 'GMA' 0 Shares Email The first ever trailer for Disney's new live action version of the classic movie "Beauty and the Beast" debuted exclusively on "Good Morning America" on Monday. The movie stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as Beast. Others in the cast include Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Audra McDonald, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson. The film will be released on March 17, 2017. The Disney animated musical romantic fantasy was a hit when it premiered in 1991, and the following year it became the first animated film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category. ABC News is owned by The Walt Disney Company.

0 Shares Academy Awards, USA (1992) Academy Awards, USA Date: March 30 1992 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Awards for 1992 The Silence of the Lambs became the third film in Academy history to win the "Big Five" Academy Awards for producing, directing, acting, and screenwriting following It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . NOMINEES Best Actor in a Leading Role WINNER Best Actress in a Leading Role WINNER Best Actor in a Supporting Role WINNER Best Actress in a Supporting Role WINNER Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen WINNER Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published WINNER Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing WINNER For the song "Beauty and the Beast". Howard Ashman's nomination and award were posthumous. His partner Bill Lauch accepted the award on his behalf. NOMINEES For the song "Be Our Guest". Howard Ashman's nomination was posthumous. For the song "When You're Alone".

Best Music, Original Score Best Short Film, Live Action WINNER Satyajit Ray For his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world. - Satyajit Ray was not present at the awards ceremony. His acceptance speech was pre-recorded in Calcutta. Medal of Commendation For outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Pete Comandini (YCM Laboratories), Richard Dayton (YCM Laboratories), Donald Hagans (YCM Laboratories), Richard T. Ryan (YCM Laboratories) For the creation and development of a motion picture film restoration process using liquid gate and registration correction on a contact printer. Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award WINNER The crew of the orbiting space shuttle Atlantis (STS-45 participated in the presentation of the Thalberg Award to George Lucas. An Oscar statuette was aboard the shuttle to commemorate the event. Academy Award of Merit WINNERS Iain Neil, Albert K.

Saiki (Panavision, Inc.) For the optical design (Neil), the mechanical design (Saiki) and the concept and development (Panavision) of the Primo Zoom Lens for 35m cinematography. Georg Thoma, Heinz Feierlein (Engineering department of Sachtler AG) For the design (Thoma) and the development (Feierlein/Sachtler) for a range of fluid tripod heads. Harry J. Baker For the design and development of the first full fluid-action tripod head with adjustable degrees of viscous drag. Guido Cartoni For his pioneer work in developing the technology to achieve selectable and repeatable viscous drag modules in fluid tripod heads. Ray Feeney , Richard Keeney, Richard J. Lundell For the software development and adaptation of the Solitaire Film Recorder that provides a flexible, cost-effective film recording system. For the development of the Henson Performance Control System. Mario Celso For his pioneering work in the design, development and manufacture of equipment for carbon arc and xenon power supplies and igniters in motion picture projection. For the design and development of the "CAPS" production system for film animation.

George Worrall Oscar Vault Monday – Beauty and the Beast, 1991 (dir. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise) | the diary of a film history fanatic the diary of a film history fanatic Posted by cinemafanatic Beauty and the Beast is the first Disney movie I 100% remember watching in theaters. I was probably about five years old at the time and I loved it to death. It was also the first year I can remember watching the Academy Awards. I wanted it to win Best Picture SO BADLY. At the time, I had no idea that it was the first animated film to be nominated for the award, nor did I really understand what an honor an Academy Award was for a film. My mom had the sad job of informing me that it was most likely going to lose to The Silence of the Lambs, a film that I most definitely had not seen at the time. Now, however, it’s the only other film nominated that year that I’ve seen.

I can see why it won, such strong performances, a perfect genre flick (and a history maker in itself, only one of three films ever to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress), but I still wanted, and to some extent, still wish that Beauty and the Beast had won the award. It was joined earlier this year by Up as an animated film competing for the top prize. Hopefully, as this awards season comes to a close, those films will be joined by Toy Story 3 (and as one of the best reviewed films of the year, it has a fighting chance of actually winning). Also nominated in 1991 were Bugsy, Jfk, The Prince of Tides and winner The Silence of the Lambs. On top of being nominated for Best Picture, the film was up for five more, bringing the total to six Academy Award nominations, winning two: Best Sound, Best Song – Belle, Best Song – Be Our Guest, Best Song – Beauty and the Beast (won) and Best Score (won).

I rewatched the film yesterday in preparation to write about it and I can safely say that it has held up its charm these 19 years since I first saw it (and the many, many, many times I’ve watched it since). I still love all the characters (including the villains, that you love to hate), I still love all the songs, the animation is still breathtaking. I think it most definitely deserved its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, it just saddens me that no other animated film (and there have been a few deserving films for sure) was able to do it again until they expanded the category to ten films. I mean, I know that part of that has to do with the Best Animated Feature category the Academy created, but you know they just created it because there were so many great Pixar films coming out, that the only way they could get around not nominating them for Best Picture was to give them their own category. Looks like Pixar upped that ante by making films that transcend the animated mold. I hope they keep it up. From the very beginning of the film, you could tell Beauty and the Beast was going to be something special.

I think there are a few animated films prior to and since this film’s release that are as well planned out and executed as this film is, or that have as beautiful an animation style. I always really related to Belle, being a bookish brunette myself. She’s such a strong heroine, smart and sassy and willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the good of others. The voice performance by Paige O’Hara is really wonderful and completely reinforces the character’s strong personality. I love the Beast. I love how he starts out big and mean and then later, very naturally, becomes sweet and even a bit silly. My only complaint about the character is they made the Beast so perfect, I’m almost disappointed when (SPOILER ALERT) he gets turned back into your average, run of the mill prince at the end. I’m pretty sure every time I eat eggs I think about Gaston and how he used to eat four dozen eggs so he’d grow large and now he eats five dozen so he’s roughly the size of a barge. He’s one of my favorite love-to-hate-him Disney villains. He’s just such an obnoxious jerk, but you almost feel like the writers based him on a real person, you know?

My favorite musical number in the film is the Be Our Guest sequence. It is just so magical. I actually watched it twice last night because I love it so much. There’s so much going on, it boggles my mind that the animation was all drawn by hand. It also showcases Jerry Orbach as Lumière, which is perhaps my favorite voice performance in any animated film ever. His impersonation of Maurice Chevalier is so uncanny. It’s amazing. But I also love David Ogden Stiers as Cogsworth and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts. Really, this film has one of the all-time greatest voice casts in animated film history (the best in my mind being 1982’s The Last Unicorn) I can’t talk about this movie without talking about the library scene. THE. LIBRARY. SCENE. Look at that library! Can you even imagine if that was real? I just, I just want it so badly. And in terms of the plot of the film, the Beast giving this marvelous trove of books to Belle is maybe one of the sweetest gestures in all of cinema history. It was such a perfect scene.

The romance that blooms between Belle and the Beast is just so beautiful (say what you will about Stockholm Syndrome or whatever). I love how natural it arises between the two of them. I also love this scene, wherein the couple (in beautifully matched outfits) dance to the tune of the theme song – Beauty and the Beast – as song by Angela Lansbury’s Mrs. Potts. I believe they used state-of-the-art computer animation during the ballroom scene, which in 1991 is noting compared to what they can do now. That being said, I think they integrated the computer animation with the hand-drawn animation seamlessly and that it still looks as magical today as it did 19 years ago. Lastly, I wanted to talk about how the ending perfectly mirrors the beginning, only it’s a happy ending as opposed to the ominous and sad beginning. I love the stained glass animation. I love the ending of this film and I’m still just as upset at 24 that it didn’t win Best Picture as I was at the age of 5. If you’re interested in purchasing the film, you can do so here . 41.487115 -120.542456

Question: Which 1991 Disney movie was the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?
Answer: 'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST'